Washoe County Library System

Marie-Henri Beyle was born on January 23rd 1783 in Grenoble, Isere. He is known to us all by his pen name; Stendahl. He spent much of his childhood in an unhappy state, mourning his beloved mother who died when he was 7 and disliking his unimaginative father. His early career was in the military and theatrical worlds of the First French Empire. He was an auditor with the Conseil d'État and took part in the French administration and the Napoleonic

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To commemorate the 50th anniversary of Harper Lee’s beloved classic To Kill a Mockingbird, filmmaker Mary Murphy has interviewed prominent figures—including Oprah, Anna Quindlen, and Tom Brokaw—on how the book has impacted their lives. These interviews are compiled in Scout, Atticus, and Boo, the perfect companion to one of the most important American books of the 20th Century. Scout, Atticus, and Boo will also...

The second installment in Pearl S. Buck's acclaimed Good Earth trilogy: the powerful story of three brothers whose greed will bring their family to the brink of ruin
Sons begins where The Good Earth ended: Revolution is sweeping through China. Wang Lung is on his deathbed in the house of his fathers, and his three sons stand ready to inherit his hard-won estate. One son has taken the family's wealth for granted and become a...

Dorian Gray is the subject of a full-length portrait in oil by Basil Hallward, an artist infatuated by Dorian's beauty. Through Basil, Dorian meets Lord Henry Wotton, and he soon is enthralled by the aristocrat's hedonistic worldview: that beauty and sensual fulfilment are the only things worth pursuing in life. Suddenly understanding that his beauty will fade, Dorian expresses the desire to sell his soul, to ensure that the picture, rather than...

North and South draws on Gaskell's own experiences of the poverty and hardship of life in the industrial north of England. Her heroine, Margaret Hale, is taken from the wealthy south by her nonconformist minister father, to live in a fictional northern town. The stark differences are explored through Margaret's abrupt change in circumstance, and her sympathetic reaction to the plight of the northerners. She comes into conflict with a local

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Taking readers deep into a labyrinth of dark neurosis, We Have Always Lived in the Castle is a deliciously unsettling novel about a perverse, isolated, and possibly murderous family and the struggle that ensues when a cousin arrives at their estate. This edition features a new introduction by Jonathan Lethem.

"The uncannily relevant, deliciously clear-eyed collected stories of a critically acclaimed, award-winning "American literary treasure" (Boston Globe), ripe for rediscovery--with a foreword by Elizabeth Strout. From her many well-loved novels, Hilma Wolitzer--now 90 years old and at the top of her game--has gained a reputation as one of our best fiction writers, who "raises ordinary people and everyday occurrences to a new height." (Washington Post)...

Dante’s vision, The Divine Comedy, has profoundly affected every generation since it first appeared in the early 14th century. The box set contains the trilogy of The Inferno, Purgatory and Paradise, plus a biography of Dante – A Life of Dante – which puts the very personal nature of his poetry into perspective.

Unabridged in a new translation by Benedict Flynn

The Inferno

“Abandon all hope you who enter

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A repackaged edition of the revered author's retelling of the myth of Cupid and Psyche—what he and many others regard as his best novel.

C. S. Lewis—the great British writer, scholar, lay theologian, broadcaster, Christian apologist, and bestselling author of Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters, The Great Divorce, The Chronicles of Narnia, and many other beloved classics—brilliantly reimagines the story of Cupid and

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Mary Poppins returns to the Banks family in a rocket and involves the Banks children in more magical adventures including those with Peppermint Horses, the Marble Boy, and the Cat that Looked at the King.